School -> University

Well, this is my last year in High School and then onto some sort of post graduate education for me.

Here Universities are much better than Colleges so that's what I'm aiming for.
I need about 85% average to have a pretty good chance to get into my program of choice (Computer Science or IT)
Currently, 2 months into the school year, I have about ~74%. The problem with me is I know I can do much better. The courses that are screwing me over are my math course (Algebra and Geometry) and Science in Society (Really really hard marker!). The problem with me though is that I don't do much homework (like the simple homework from math or other classes). I do all my assignments that are worth any marks. I actually put effort into doing them this year too, but I just can't get myself to do homework, or intensively study for tests. I do review for like ~2-3h, sometimes more sometimes less, but that's not enough for the math courses.

What are your secrets or tips to doing well. Now I'm not asking for magic here, I'm just asking how do you people get yourself to sit down in front of that desk and do all the boring stuff. I know that by doing good in school and then going to Uni and doing good there will get you a good job etc, but that doesn't work much. I just start to trail of and get bored when doing homework. Well, any advice or tips would be nice. Thanks.

[ShEaNy]

well i wish idid better in my last year of high school....my average was a 69% i think...65% in math...cant remember the other courses...i can do WAY better...i remember when i was hitting 80's consistly in every course...then i met booze..lol...but anyway..for me i just said to myelf...ok thats it..sit ur ass down and freaking study...thats about it...i refrained from looking at anything else or doing anything else....my own will power took over....yet it still doesnt explain my marks just turn everything off (comp,tv,radio..) and go to work...i find it easier to get info from books rather then the net...the net is to distracting..(pop ups,etc)

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

First of all, good choice on pursuing higher education. You won't regret it.

Studying... I have a hard time doing this still and I'm in my 4th year @ the University. My biggest problem is procrastination. I have homework for a couple of classes (due each week) that might take a group of us 10-15+ hours to complete per class, but our group won't start it until a day or two before its due. That's bad enough, but often we have tests and stuff coming up that I won't have enough time to study for as a result. High school is much easier to plan out. You know when your tests are coming up, right? Sit down for the three days prior to the test and study for a couple of hours a day, maybe a little more if you need it. You should get through all of the material with a day to spare, and use the last day before the test to review and go more in depth.

The motivation should come from the fact that you NEED to get better grades to easily get into the university. You have less than a year left of HS, so make it count.

Sounds to me like you lack motivation and/or will power. Lots of people just put around only doing half of what they're capable of because of this very problem.

What you need is a goal that you truly want to achieve. Different people will do well for different reasons. You need to find a reason that matters to you. You sound like you want to do well and get a good job. Let the job be your motivation. Tell yourself that if you don't have discipline, you'll be working at McDonald's for the rest of your life.

If you're having trouble in high school then there's a good chance you'll have even more trouble in a Uni. Try working on that discipline now so it doesn't screw you later in life.

Think of it like flying a fighter jet. There's a lot of prep work that goes into a sortie. You may spend 3 hours in briefing and another 3 in debriefing for a 30 minute flight. The briefing and debriefing isn't all fun and games, but dammit that 30 minutes of flight is probably hella fun. Sometimes you gotta track through the mud to get to that green grass. Just focus on what you want to achieve and do the mindless ***** work to get to it.

Another trick that sometimes works is to give yourself rewards, in a sense. It's easier to slack guilt-free when your homework is done, or at least for me it is. So just get your stuff out of the way and then it's like vacation, no worries, you're done. That was enough motivation for me many times.

b

sounds to me like your looking for a "secret" that will unlock your full potienal with little effort.

I'll tell you something and you should write it down. Hard work pays off! If you sit for 3-4 hours a day, do all your work and read ahead you'll ace every test. Your being distracted by things in your life and looking for this "secret" trick to doing well inschool isn't helping. YOu need to buckle down and get done whatever it is you want and stop feeling sorry for yourself for the situtations you find yourself in!

write that down

[ebpda9]

here is something that will work: ask your dad to woop your ass everytime you don't feel like studying.

[pdiggitydogg]

well whatever you decide to do just dont slack off. my first year away at Central michigan (last yr) was spent playing a lot of GT3, GTA3, and Madden...oh and a lot of "F*ck it...Im not goin' to class". Well because of that I was put on academic probation. I moved home got the civic, saving tons of money, and still saying "F*ck it...Im not goin to class"...but less of that this time around ...I learned my lesson.

Originally posted by mt.biker
sounds to me like your looking for a "secret" that will unlock your full potienal with little effort.

I'll tell you something and you should write it down. Hard work pays off! If you sit for 3-4 hours a day, do all your work and read ahead you'll ace every test. Your being distracted by things in your life and looking for this "secret" trick to doing well inschool isn't helping. YOu need to buckle down and get done whatever it is you want and stop feeling sorry for yourself for the situtations you find yourself in!

write that down

Good point, that'll help too, but I wasn't looking for an easy way out. I guess what I was trying to ask is what are other people's motivations to do the homework. I wasn't looking for any magic pill or anything.


Good tips people.

[DsBlu01CivEX]

ok...this is a hard topic to just tell other people what to do. It's easy enough for me to sit here and tell you how I do things at my University for my classes...basically I do nothing. I do the projects that I need to do for grading, I show up for most of the classes and take notes when I'm not sleeping, and then show up on test days and take the tests. I have a 2.8 overall GPA and a major GPA of 3.0 (all based on a 4.0 scale). What you gotta take into consideration though is that everyone learns differently. Some people are visual people and need to see things to understand them. Others are audio people and need to just hear things explained to understand them, and the 3rd group are the ones that don't like to see or hear what they are learning but just like to read it and it makes sense to them. My suggestion to you is find out how you learn the best and then institute that into your studying at home. The other thing is you asked how we get the "boring" stuff done...don't go into studying for a certain subject as boring. You gotta make it fun and memorable otherwise it's not gonna sink in. One of my biggest methods in class to remember things is by association. I'll associate things the professor is saying with things I know more about (especially things going on in real life) or something humorous that happens in class. I'll never forget what a petticoat is...in 10th grade my world cultures teacher was pissed off at our class because none of us knew what one was. So she lifted up her skirt and showed us her slip...thats what a petticoat is. I know that know and trust me I'll never forget it!!!! (this woman was like senile and about 75 yrs old )

So juve...my advice to you is figure out what kind of learner you are and if you have any questions from there I might be able to give you some better tips. (Can ya tell I was an education major?)

well, I freakin sucked in high school, then when I got to Rogers, it all just clicked and I started doing better.

The key is to not burn yourself out, space yourself, give yourself enough time. Cramming isn't the way to do it. Single out an hour or 2 a night and just use that consistently to study or do homework.

What Univ. you going to? You should go to OU!

Originally posted by GirlRacer
What Univ. you going to? You should go to OU!

Which ever one I can get in to!

[Kyle]

Originally posted by GirlRacer
You should go to OU!

are you going to OU now GirlRacer?

No, I went to Rogers University, also in Oklahoma

Nah, he's canadian, so going to a great school there is probably cheaper than going to a mediocre school in the US.

My favourite advice (I didn't do it until my last year at Uni): spend every day like you're working a typical 9-10 hr/day corporate job (with the hour or so for lunch ). Even if you don't have early classes, get up early and start first thing in the morning, and even if you're done at 3 work until dinner. Sometimes you'll have to work longer, sure, but overall your time will be better spend by "forcing" yourself to find extra studying/reading/hw-checking to do to fill out the easy days.

Mediocre school? I think OU is ranked pretty up there...

[Kyle]

Originally posted by GirlRacer
Mediocre school? I think OU is ranked pretty up there...

only in football